Duke Energy, U.S. Gov’t end 15-year-old Clean Air Act litigation

Fifty-six mines across Canada provided data on wages paid in 2011.  Thirty-four are union mines; and twenty-two non-union.  Forty-five reported increased wages while eleven made no changes.  None decreased wages. 

The West Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum is investigating evidence of asbestos contamination at Rio Tinto's West Angelas iron ore mine, in the Pilbara region.

Kyrgyzstan's parliament has approved a review to the operating license for Centerra Gold, which is developing a major gold mine that accounts for 12% of the Central Asian nation's economy, announced the company Wednesday.

Commodities trader Glencore International is studying modifications to its $26 billion bid for miner Xstrata after Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, a key shareholder, unexpectedly opposed the deal's terms.

Worldwide reserves of potash could surpass demand by between 59% to100% by 2020, says the latest report published by Rabobank.

The total value of the copper, silver, indium and manganese reserves discovered by South Korean company Kores in Bolivia last year, may be worth more than $8 billion.

Scientists around the world, including in Canada, are currently developing robots that can anticipate and prevent mining accidents, such as the dramatic entrapment of 33 Chilean miners in the Atacama Desert in 2010.

British scientists have discovered that adding small amounts of nanodiamonds - pieces of carbon less than a ten-thousandth of the diameter of a human hair - make powder detergent much more effective at removing dirt and grease.

Canadian Rockwell Diamonds announced its carat production for the first quarter of this year improved by 74% to 6116 carats from the same period last year.